


What we are pt 19

by AXEe



Series: What we are [19]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Not Canon Compliant, Trigger warning for kidnappings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-18 11:15:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14851691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: In the shadows are things which are best left alone.    AU of "Alex"





	1. Taken

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are folks, the long-awaited first chapter of Part Nineteen of What we are, please enjoy :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking up from underneath  
Fractured moonlight on the sea  
Reflections still look the same to me  
As before I went under

And it’s peaceful in the deep  
Cathedral where you cannot breathe  
No need to pray, no need to speak  
Now I am under all

\--Florence + the Machine: “Never Let Me Go”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

“ _In our continuing coverage of the recent hostage crisis at West Federal Bank. After a nine-hour negotiation with NCPD, the crisis was abruptly resolved when Supergirl burst into the building and disarmed the armed suspects—_ ”

I watched as Lucy shut off the TV with a grimace. She turned to look up at Kara

“Nice,” she drawled “real nice”

“Hey, I saved those people,” Kara objected “ _and_ stopped the bad guys”

“Sure,” Lucy nodded “but the cops were getting through to them, they were willing to release one of the hostages. _Now_ …there’s a giant hole in the roof and two of them have concussions from where you threw them into a wall”

“OK…so, I was a little….aggressive,” Kara began as James coughed uncomfortably “but they’re criminals,” she pointed out “those dozens of hostages are not witnesses”

“Unless they use the ‘Superman Defense’.” Lucy pointed out

“The what now?” Winn asked as he set the table. It was our first ever try at a dinner date with Winn, Lucy, and Alura. So in addition to myself and Astra, Kara and James were also there

“The Superman Defense,” Lucy sighed “excessive force, vigilante justice. It’s helped dozens of criminals get off on first or minor offenses because— _legally_ —what you do isn’t really approved by the courts or the government” she explained

“She’s got a point” I shrugged as a flustered Kara turned to Alura, who quickly busied herself with tossing the salad, clearly not wanting to get involved

“Ugh! You guys!” Kara scowled as she threw her napkin down on the table “ ‘superman defense’, really?” she scoffed as she stalked out in a huff

“I’ll get her” I said as I stood up and followed her out into the hall. Not seeing her, I rang for the elevator, a guy in a baseball cap squeezing in after me just as the doors closed, his head buried in his phone as he stood in the far corner as I pushed for the ground floor.

Something nagged at the back of my mind, what was it about that guy that looked so familiar?  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

“Kara” I waved to get Kara’s attention as I walked into CatCo

“Hi,” she grinned “listen, sorry about running out on you guys last night” she apologized

“It’s fine,” I dismissed “listen, have you heard from Alex? She didn’t come home last night”

“No,” Kara shook her head looking confused “she didn’t stay with me. Maybe she went back to work to catch up on some paperwork?”

I shook my head

“I checked, she hasn’t reported in yet” I explained as Kara’s cell phone rang

“Ah, speak of the devil,” she held it up, Alex’s caller ID flashing across the screen as she answered it “hey, Alex, you’re worrying Astra” she greeted

“ _Hello, Supergirl_ ”

We both froze as I caught the voice with my enhanced hearing. It was deep, electronically modulated, possibly male

“Who is this?” Kara demanded

“ _Not important,_ ” the voice countered “ _what is important is that I_ know _who_ you _are….Kara Danvers_ ”

“What do you want? Where’s Alex?” Kara hissed as we moved into a relatively secluded corner of the room

“ _Now we’re getting somewhere,_ ” the voice chuckled “ _a man named ‘Peter Thompson’ is serving a life-sentence for murder in Albatross Bay Prison. You will help him escape and I’ll let your sister go. If not, she dies_ ”

“How I do know that you have her?” Kara demanded

“ _See for yourself,_ ”

The phone chirped, a picture loading, displaying Alex lying unconscious on a dirty concrete floor. There were no other distinguishing marks or other features to tell us where she was being held, merely a close up of her face

“ _You have twenty-four hours to comply or Alex Danvers dies,_ ” the voice ordered “ _oh, and tell your aunt the General that if she wants to see her fiancée alive again, she’d better help you_ ”

Then the call ended…


	2. Runaround

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And it’s breaking over me  
Thousands miles down to the sea bed  
Found a place to rest my head

Never let me go  
Never let me go

\--Florence + the Machine: “Never Let Me Go”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

I sat up with a wince, blinking as the world came into focus. Rolling up into a sitting position I looked around the small, cinderblock-lined room that I was in. There was a large grate in the center of the ceiling framed by florescent lights which were protected by metal framework, so no use in trying to break them to try and escape.

The only other things of interest in the room was a long pipe bolted to the wall, which ran vertically from the floor to the ceiling, ending with a valve of some sort near the floor, and a single security camera on the wall behind me, pointed down.

Getting to my feet, I tried to piece together just _how_ I ended up here. I had been in the elevator at Lucy and Winn’s building, right, I was trying to get a hold of Kara to talk her down, before she did something stupid. Then that guy had jumped into the elevator with me…

The guy in the elevator!

I turned back to the security camera, which turned left and right, following my every move

“You,” I spat, my throat was dry, making my voice scratchy and hoarse “I _knew_ that I recognized you!” I hissed at the camera “I don’t know why you kidnapped me,” I began “but you just made the biggest mistake of your life. When my friends find me—and they _will_ find you, make no mistake—they will _end_ you!” I spat

The camera’s lens whirred as it zoomed in, and I got the distinct impression that my kidnapper was laughing at me…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

“How long has it been since the kidnapper contacted you?” J’onn demanded as Command burst into a furious hive of activity

“Fifteen minutes” Kara answered as Winn and Vasquez both attempted to trace the call

“Ah, damn, no dice,” Winn pronounced “looks like the call was from an unlisted number and was bounced off like a…bazillion satellites before it reached you”

“So the kidnapper could be anywhere on the planet” Kara reasoned

“Maybe not,” I nodded “he contacted you personally, he knew your name, he knew our relation to Alex and to each other”

“You think it’s somebody that we both know?” she asked

I shrugged

“It’s always a possibility,” I admitted “what about her sub-dermal tracker?” I asked

“Nope,” Winn shook his head again “looks like it’s either out of range, or the guy managed to figure out how to turn it off”

“What about this ‘Peter Thompson’?” J’onn asked “what’s his story?”

“Not much to tell,” Lucy replied as she held up a file “a couple of B&E’s and DUI’s. He was finally arrested on one count of aggravated manslaughter; apparently he broke into a house about ten years ago and startled the homeowner. The homeowner had a knife, they struggled and Thompson ended up stabbing him. And before you, he has no known living relatives”

“It’s a start,” J’onn declared “Astra, Supergirl, with me,” he ordered “the rest of you…,” he paused, his face grim “we’re on a clock, people!” he barked out…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Albatross Bay Prison was a maximum security prison just north of National City on the coast. It reminded me far too much of Fort Rozz as we were led into a interrogation room where Peter Thompson waited, cuffed and shackled to the table. He was a middle-aged man, balding, with a rather rotund figure

“Peter Thompson, I’m Agent Monroe of the FBI,” J’onn introduced himself as we sat down “this is Agent Inzeli,” he gestured to me “and Kara Danvers of CatCo Magazine”

“Wow, got three of you this time, eh?” Thompson chuckled “must be something big”

“Do you know a woman named ‘Alexandra Danvers’?” J’onn asked

“Never heard of her” was Thompson’s answer

“Clearly someone close to you has,” J’onn remarked “they kidnapped Ms. Danvers and are holding her for ransom. Unless you’re immediately released from prison they’ll kill her”

Thompson seemed to be genuinely surprised as he barked out a sarcastic laugh

“Ain’t got nothing to do me,” he chuckled “hey, look, I’m flattered that somebody out there likes me so much that they want me outta here. But…I ain’t leaving”

“And why is that?” I wondered suddenly, unable to keep silent any longer “I would think a man in your position would be leaping for joy at the opportunity—any opportunity—to escape” I remarked

Thompson’s eyes narrowed at me, but there was no malice in them, instead I saw…regret, shame

“I got my reasons,” he said simply “we done here?”

Kara suddenly slammed a fist on the table, denting it

“Look!” she snarled “this guy has my sister!” she spat “and he wants you in exchange! Why?! What’s so important about you?! _What did you do to her?!?!_ ” she nearly-roared as I grabbed her arm and pulled her back

“Enough” I hissed as Thompson stood up, calling for the guard

“You need to keep her on a leash” he muttered, nodding to Kara as he was led away by the guard

“Why did you stop him?!” Kara demanded as she whirled around to face me “he knows something! He’s the key!”

“No. He isn’t” J’onn sighed

“How can you be so sure?” Kara demanded

“Because I read his mind,” J’onn stated “he doesn’t know anything about who took Alex, why, or where she is,” he stood up with a tired sigh “he’s dead end” he proclaimed…


	3. The Man With a Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triple update, enjoy :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And the arms of the ocean are carrying me  
And all this devotion was rushing out of me  
In the crushes of heaven for a sinner like me  
But the arms of the ocean delivered me

\--Florence + the Machine: “Never Let Me Go”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

As we exited the prison my cell phone rang

“ _Guys! I think I might have found out where the phone call came from!_ ” Winn exclaimed as I answered “ _now, it’s a long shot,_ ” he reminded us “ _but…_ ”

“Where?” I demanded…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Winn had traced the phone call to a building in the old Garment District, from when National City used to be the biggest exporter of fine textiles on the West Coast. Storming the building with a full strike team, we were armed and ready for anything

“Spread out! Search everywhere!” I ordered as Kara landed besides me, her cape rustling as she did

“Agent In-ze! Over here!”

Turning, Kara and I followed the call, finding an agent standing by a conglomeration of various wires and cables, all of which seemed to be connected to a wireless internet router near the ceiling. Clearly this was just one of the areas the ransom call had been routed through.

“It’s a dead end” Kara sighed

“Uh, ma’am?” an agent held up a piece of paper “we found this tied to one of the cables” she explained as she unrolled it. Written on it were just two numbers and two words.

23 HOURS LEFT

“ _I am_ really _getting fed up with this sicko_ ” Lucy muttered disgustedly over my comm.

“ _Hey, Kara? Astra?_ ” Winn called out “ _listen, I think I found the connection between Peter Thompson and Alex,_ ” he explained “ _I was going over the old transcripts from Thompson's trial and it turns out that he has a son who spoke on his behalf_ ”

“A son?” Kara echoed “I thought you said that Peter Thompson didn’t have any living relatives?”

“ _The kid used a fake name,_ ” Winn explained “ _but, I did some digging and I think I found him. His name’s ‘Rick Malverne’_ ”

“Malverne?” Kara echoed. She looked at me, confused “I know that name, why do I know that name?”

“ _Because he grew up with Alex in Midvale!_ ” Winn explained “ _the kid’s mom was a next door neighbor to Eliza and Jeremiah!_ ”

“Winn,” I took a breath “please tell me that you have an address” I pleaded

“ _Already texted you_ ” he replied…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The address led us to a dilapidated house in an equally dilapidated neighborhood. The house looked like it had been, or was in danger of being, condemned. The windows were either boarded up and the walls had large sections of drywall missing, revealing the insulation and electrical wiring beneath, while the half-rotten floorboards creaked ominously underfoot as we made our way inside.

However, despite all this squalor and dilapidation, one section of hallway remained intact, in fact the drywall and plaster looked fresh. Bursting in through the lone door at the end Kara and I found ourselves in some kind of control room, screens had been set up against the wall displaying, among other things, the image of Alex, alive and well, pacing within in a small cell. I felt my breath hitch in my throat as I watched her running her hands along the walls and the floor, looking for weak spots, cracks in the cement, anything that could provide an escape route.

“ _Alex_ ” I whispered as Kara frantically hunted amongst the controls

“Microphone!” she gasped as she plugged in the small microphone “Alex?! Alex?!”

“She can’t hear you”

We spun at the voice. The man I now knew to be Rick Malverne was about Kara’s height, with sandy blonde hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He was dressed in a loose black turtleneck and matching pants. His pose—hands in his pockets, shoulders loose, and feet apart—was relaxed, casual. He was in control here and we all knew it.

“Why are you doing this?” Kara demanded

In response, Malverne calmly slid one arm up, examining his watch with an air of boredom

“Twenty-two hours left,” he announced “hmm, tick-tock, tick-tock,” he taunted

With a growl, Kara took a step forward, her eyes glowing with the deadly light of heat vision. Malverne, however, did not cower; instead he leaned in, examining her eyes with clear fascination and even awe

“Wow, even cooler up close” he remarked. Before I could stop her, Kara’s hand shot out, striking Malverne in the chest and hurtling him into the far wall. Before she could finish him off, I grabbed her wrist, pulling her back as I tapped my comm.

“J’onn? We have Malverne in custody” I announced as I glanced from Malverne’s limp, groaning form back to the monitors and the image of Alex trapped in his prison…


	4. Countermesures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quadruple update, enjoy :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Though the pressure’s hard to take  
It’s the only way I can escape  
It seems a heavy choice to make  
And now I am under all

\--Florence + the Machine: “Never Let Me Go”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

Rick Malverne had remained quiet and deathly calm as we’d restrained him and placed him in an interrogation room under armed guard

“I don’t get it,” Kara shook her head “I mean I barely remember him. Why would he go after Alex? Why now?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out” J’onn vowed

“Can’t you just…read his mind?” she pleaded

“No. I can’t” J’onn announced

“How is that possible?” James wondered as we all gathered around the small screen at the security desk and watched Malverne as he _lounged_ in his seat

“If he’s strong willed enough, he can resist a telepath scan” J’onn explained

“Right now, I’d like to just go in there and beat it out of him” Winn growled, which surprised us all, if Lucy’s startled snort was any indication

“We all would,” I agreed “but beating him won’t solve anything. Right now, we need to approach this rationally, establish a rapport with him, make him feel comfortable enough to agree to our demands without us having to agree to any of his” I explained

“How do we do that?” Kara asked

“We talk to him” I replied…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Malverne looked up as I walked into the interrogation room, Kara by my side

“Now, wait, don’t tell me,” he began as he pointed at me “Astra, right?” he chuckled “see, I was going to say ‘Alura’ but then I remember the hair thing”

I felt my stomach twist at how much knowledge of us he possessed and briefly wondered if perhaps Cadmus had helped him, provided him with information. But rather than voice my fears, I calmly pulled the other chair out and sat down

“You seem to know an awful lot about us,” I remarked “and yet we know next to nothing about you,” I spread my hands wide, invitingly, hoping that his overconfidence would be his undoing, that he would want to brag, to show off, and as he leaned forward, I found that I was partly right.

He glanced at Kara, smirking

“You don’t remember me, do you?” he chuckled “that’s OK, because I remember you. I remember that day at the beach, I invited Alex and her ‘weird foster sister’ our to the beach. Nice day, not too bright, not too windy. Then…a car on the highway got into a crash. Leaking gas everywhere, sparks, a woman and her baby trapped inside as the gas ignited. And, Alex’s weird foster sister got there before anyone else did. I saw her _tear_ a steel door off with _one hand_ and then _jump_ twenty feet away as the car exploded,” his smile vanished suddenly; replaced by something dark and disturbed “I saw Kara Danvers do something… _amazing_ ,” he breathed “and it stayed with me. I knew that Kara moved to National City just before Supergirl showed up. I just…put two and two together,” he shrugged “I knew it was you”

“So why blackmail?” I wondered “your father, Peter Thompson, isn’t exactly a model citizen,” I opened my copy of Thompson’s file “aggravated assault…assault…breaking and entering….grand theft….driving while under the influence…resisting arrest…assaulting an officer…shall I go on? Or shall I just skip to the murder conviction and life sentence?”

“Manslaughter,” Malverne countered “he confessed”

“He _killed_ a man” Kara exclaimed, aghast

“He provided for me!” Malveren snarled, his composure cracking slightly “he was always there! He always made sure that there was food on the table and even got enough money to send me to collage,” he scoffed derisively “you remember my mother, Kara?” he asked “did you know that she used to beat me every night? Tell me that I was garbage?” he rolled his eyes “my earliest memories are of learning how to cover the burses so that the other kids couldn’t see,” he barked out a disbelieving laugh “but I don’t expect you to understand what that feels like, you’re bulletproof!”

Kara shook her head in clear disbelief

“I remember…,” she began “Alex got chicken pox once, and you saw me eating alone at lunchtime and sat next to me”

“I was fourteen,” Malverne dismissed “when my dad found out about me, he looked me up, got me away from there,” I watch as his face twisted in rage “now, you have a choice. You want your sister back? You get him out of there right now,” he sucked in a deep breath, his anger boiling over “FREE MY DAD!!!” he raged

Kara lunged, hurtling him against the wall, but I intercepted her before she did him any serious or permanent harm

“Look at me,” I hissed “do _not_ him get to you. That is what he wants”

She sucked in a harsh breath and then backed down

“Well,” Malverne straightened his shirt “looks like it’s a matter of which one of you loves Alex more,” he shrugged “and even I don’t know who to bet on…”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It took about half an hour, but soon the interrogation room’s door opened and Peter Thompson was led in by armed guard. Malverne stood up, looking stunned, perhaps surprised that we’d given in so easily

“Hey, Ricky” he grinned as he reached for his son, looking as if he wasn’t sure if he should hug him or not but finally settled on an awkward one-armed hug

“All right, we’ve fulfilled our end,” I stated “now tell us where she is”

“Not until my dad are on a helicopter a hundred miles from here” Malverne countered

“Come, Ricky,” Thompson encouraged “you gotta give ‘em something,” he chuckled and gave Malverne a playful nudge “c’mon, just tell ‘em where the girl is, eh? And then we’ll get out of here, just you and me”

Malverne looked between Kara and I and Thompson before he slowly sat back down

“You know, I gotta hand it to you, that bit where he couldn’t decide whether to hug me or not? That was so like Dad,” he chuckled. His expression darkened again “I have been planning this for _two years,_ ” he stated as he looked up at his father “did you _really_ think that I didn’t plan for _you_ … _Martian_?”

I sighed as Thompson’s encouraging expression darkened into a scowl as a familiar crackling haze of energy surrounded his form as J’onn seamlessly shifted back into Hank Henshaw as he came to stand beside me

“Twenty-one hours” Malverne announced, tapping his watch…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

Finding a private corner in my cell was hard, but I managed to hunker down on the floor right under the camera. Checking my pockets I found that I still had my wallet, no cell phone (figures), but the wallet gave me an idea. Emptying it out, I found one of my credit cards—which I almost never use, so it would die for a good cause—and managed to tear it in half, then, undoing my belt, I looped it over into a tight wad. Stuffing said wad into my mouth, I bit down on it hard as I worked the sharpened edge of the torn credit card into my shoulder.

Grimacing at the pain, I dug the plastic deeper, finally managing to dig out the small, rice grain-sized sub-dermal tracker. Panting for breath, I tore the hem off my shirt and used that as a bandage as I stared at the tiny tracker in my bloody palm

“Well, that sucked” I muttered. Now I just needed a power source, and I was sitting right under one. Running my fingers along the wires connecting the camera to the wall, I stripped the insulation off using the same piece of credit card and then, cutting the wire (and nearly shocking myself), I hooked up the tracker to it, watching in satisfaction as it lit up, the tiny LED light blinking green…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

The door to the room suddenly swung open, Winn standing in the doorway. He merely pointed out to the hallway before disappearing back out again, clearly expecting us to follow him. Getting up, I followed him as Kara and J’onn did the same

“What is it?” I asked

“I think I found her,” Winn explained “we just picked up a request for an automatic software update from Alec’s sub-dermal tracker. Now, Malverne is smart, but he’s not that smart, he forgot to hide the IPS address”

I glanced back at Malverne, who remained where he was, calm and collected

“I don’t like this;” I shook my head “it’s too easy”

“ ‘Too easy’?!” Kara exclaimed “how can you say that?!”

“Kara! Look at him!” I gestured to the screen “does that look like man who’s been defeated? Whose master plan has suddenly crumbled? Why would he go to all this planning and effort and forget to hide a vital clue? Kara, something is very _wrong_ here!” I pleaded

“This is our only chance!” she exclaimed “now, I’m going to get her back!” then, with a gust of wind, she was gone…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

The address led me to an abandoned warehouse. Looking around I couldn’t see any traces of Alex, switching to x-ray vision, I found that part of the floor had been lined with lead. Ripping up took some doing, but I could suddenly hear Alex’s voice

“ _Kara?! Astra?! Hey! I’m down here!_ ”

Ripping the floor panel away, I froze at the sight in front of me. Underneath the floor panel there was like this crawlspace, sitting inside it was a laptop and a bunch jumble of circuits boards that I couldn’t figure out. On the laptop, Alex kept yelling for me, but whatever Malvern had done meant that we couldn’t talk to each other.

But it was the words painted on the inside of the crawlspace that had me confused

YOU NOW HAVE FOUR

“Four? Four what?” I wondered as the jumble of circuit boards suddenly lit up, a counter began counting down, and suddenly, on the laptop, water began filling Alex’s cell… 


	5. Countdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter FIVE, enjoy :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And it’s over  
And I’m going under  
But I’m not giving up  
I’m just giving in

I’m slipping underneath  
So cold and so sweet

\--Florence + the Machine: “Never Let Me Go"  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

**

Three and a half hours remaining…

**

I stared at the monitors in Command, one showed the counter, the other showed Alex’s cell rapidly filling with water

Aunt Astra sighed as she came up next to me

“How are you feeling?” she asked

“Guilty” I answered

“Don’t be,” she shook her head “you had every reason to believe that this was a way to bring her home”

“Well, it wasn’t,” I scoffed “Lucy was right,” I realized “I am a vigilante, not a hero”

“Vigilantes don’t inspire hope, Kara, you do,” Astra reminded me “but, that being said, you need to learn to mind your temper, to not leap before you look. The hostage situation last night, for instance, that was a matter best left to the police, not a woman in a bright red cape,” she gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze “not every problem can be solved by Supergirl flying in to save the day” she told me

“Hey, guys” Winn shuffled over. He looked tired, _really_ tired, I could see the beginnings of five o’clock shadow forming on his face and he looked like he might have slept at his desk

“Any news?” Astra asked

“Nope, sorry,” Winn shook his head “this guy’s freaking diabolical, looks like he left that IPS address out in purpose”

“As leverage,” Astra snarled “the less time Alex has, the more likely we’re more willing to give in to his demands”

“Looks like” Winn yawned

“So what do we do now?” I wondered

“Keep looking,” Astra ordered “no plan is one hundred percent foolproof”

“Agreed,” J’onn called out “we’ve got three and a half hours, I want you two to spend all of them in that interrogation room with Malverne! Find her and bring her back home!”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

The water was rising fast. Already it was up to my knees and showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon. I’d ditched my boots to give me more buoyancy, but so far all that did was leave my boots as two floating obstacles which swirled around a hit me every couple of seconds.

Diving under the water, I tried to use my belt to get more leverage to close the valve, but it wasn’t happening. Surfacing, I sucked in a breath of air and leaned against the wall

“This is my life” I muttered…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

“Soo…less than three hours left”

Rick Malverne was far too confident for my liking, and part of me longed to just break every bone in his body until he told us where Alex was. But I wasn’t that type of person. So instead I leaned back in my own chair, mimicking Malverne’s own pose

“Your father is staying where he is” I told him

He leaned forward

“Oh really?” he asked “you’d really risk her life for that?”

“I would,” I agreed “because I know that she wouldn’t want me to give into the demands of a deranged, unstable mind” I explained…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

****

**Two and a half hours remaining…**

“Has he said anything more?” Alura asked as she approached me in the corridor outside the interrogation room

“Just ‘free my dad’ and variations thereof” I answered

“Astra, this is not your fault” she told me

“If I hadn’t been so careless,” I snarled “if I had been more aware of my surroundings, I might have seen him; I might have known what he was planning on doing?”

“Not even J’onn knew,” Alura reminded me “I think that man in has let himself become so obsessed with this fantasy he has of his father that he is willing to kill to realize it”

I straightened up from where I was leaning against the wall. It couldn’t be that simple, could it?

“Say that again”

She blinked, but then brightened and nodded at me encouragingly. Determined, I pushed off the wall and stormed into the interrogation room, Malverne looked up as I entered

“Still don’t see my dad around here” he remarked as I sat back down, the laptop that Kara found still on the table, the image of Alex silently treading water on its screen, while Kara angrily paced in a corner

“Your father is a murderer,” I stated “he killed one person and would probably kill countless more if given the opportunity”

“No. He loves me; he’s the only person who ever gave a shit about me”

“Does he?” I countered “then why do you never visit him? Even under an assumed name?”

I smiled as his jaw clenched, I’d struck a nerve

“I’ve seen multiple murderers who receive daily visits from family members. But your father, a man who was convicted of manslaughter, never sees his son. Now why is that?” I wondered “it seems like there are three answers to that question: first, he asked you to stay away, the noble route. Second, you purposefully stay away, our of either shame or fear of his reaction. Thirdly…he never cared about you at all, and you know it deep down”

Malverne’s face twisted into a mask of rage

“You don’t know _anything_ , alien!!” he suddenly roared “and you what else you don’t know? You’ll _never_ see her again!!”

I smirked as I leaned forward, as Malverne seemed to regain his composure

“You have no intention of letting her go,” I stated “whether we give in to your demands or not, your plan was to kill her from the beginning, am I right?”

Malverne smirked as he leaned forward

“Free my dad and you won’t have find out”

I slid the laptop forward

“You want sympathy? You want us to ‘care’ about your plight? Then at least let us say goodbye”

Sighing as if such a request was a hardship, he pulled the laptop forward and tapped in a series of commands

“ _Kara? Astra? Hey! Anybody?!_ ” Alex’s voice came through the device’s speakers

“We’re here” I called out

“ _Oh, thank god,_ ” the relief in her voice was palpable “ _look I need to talk to you guys alone_ ” she requested

Nodding at each other, Kara and I stood up and stepped out of the room, carrying the laptop out into the hall

“We’re here” Kara announced as Alex turned towards the camera, the water was already climbing up past her waist

“ _OK, I just need you to listen,_ ” she began “ _I…I want you two to take care of each other_ ” she pleaded

“Don’t talk like that, please!” Kara pleaded

“ _I’m serious, Kara,_ ” Alex insisted “ _both of you need to take care of each other, OK? Promise me_ ”

“We will” Kara sniffled

“ _OK,_ ” I could see Alex’s throat bob as she swallowed, the water now up to her chest “ _OK, I need to talk to Astra now_ ”

“I’m here, love” I breathed as I took the laptop from Kara

“ _Hey,_ ” she tried for a grin and failed “ _I’d say nice seeing you, but…uh…heh, can’t see anything but a camera right now_ ”

“You’ll see me soon, love” I promised

“ _Optimist_ ” she panted out

“No, realist,” I corrected “because you are going to hold on, Alex. You are going to fight back and will win,” I proclaimed “you wanted to get a dog, remember? ‘Something big and friendly’, if I recall correctly. So, let’s get a dog”

“ _Yeah,_ ” she panted out, looking ever so slightly more hopeful “ _and, and let’s call her ‘Gertrude’, huh?_ ”

I laughed a little at that

“Gertrude it is,” I vowed “you hold on” I ordered

“ _I’m trying, believe me_ ” she chuckled as the screen suddenly flickered, static obscuring the image as the audio cut out at the same time

“Alex?” I frantically tapped several random keys to no avail “Alex?! Damn it!” I hurled the laptop away, it flew down the corridor to crash into the far wall with a great shower of sparks

“We’ll find her” Kara reminded me…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

****

**One and a half hours remaining…**

**Alex**

The water was already past breasts and climbing up my shoulders. Interesting fact, but trying to take off wet blue jeans while halfway underwater is not as easy as it sounds. Finally getting the jeans off, I dunked in the water a few times, using the natural air bubbles that formed to inflate them, then looping them around my neck I tied the ankles together.

Not very fashionable, but they made an improvised life-vest. Which was good, since the water was starting to climb up past my neck now…


	6. The Depths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Chapter SIX, enjoy :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And the arms of the ocean are carrying me  
So sweet and so cold  
And all this devotion I never knew at all  
In the crushes of heaven for a sinner released  
In the arms of the ocean…deliver me

\--Florence + the Machine: “Never Let Me Go”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Kara**

****

**Less than one hour remaining…**

“There has to be some clue, somewhere!” J’onn snarled

“There _isn’t_ , man!” Winn exclaimed

“What about Peter Thompson?” Lucy suggested “maybe he knows more than he’s letting on”

“No,” J’onn shook his head “Peter Thompson’s a dead end”

“Uh, guys?” I waved to get everyone’s attention “where’s Astra?”

We all looked around, but she was gone

"Obviously, she doesn't think Thompson's a dead end" Winn muttered...  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

I dug my fingers into the grate in the ceiling, the water was creeping up past my ears and cheeks

“Anytime, people” I muttered…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

Peter Thompson looked annoyed as I entered the interrogation room

“Aw, jeez, what is it with you people?” he groaned as I set the laptop down on the table and turned it on, the prerecorded footage of Alex as she treaded water appearing on its screen almost-instantly “what the hell is this?” Thompson demanded, grimacing in clear disgust

“That is the woman that your son, Rick Malverne, kidnapped and is holding for ransom,” I explained “in less than an hour the water will fill that room and she will drown,” I placed my hands flat on the tabletop and leaned in, looming over Thompson “I know that you like to give off this impression of enjoying making others suffer, but I know that isn’t true. I know the real reason why you plead guilty at your trial and it wasn’t because the District Attorney gave you plea bargain,” I nodded to the laptop “look at the screen,” I instructed.

When he refused, I reached out, grabbing his collar and pulling him forward across the table

“ _Look_ …at the screen,” I growled “her name is ‘Alex Danvers’, she has a mother, a sister, and a fiancée. Now you can rot in here for all eternity for all I care, but I know that you feel sick at the knowledge that your son would go to these lengths, the very thought of it makes you ill. She has less than an hour”

“If I knew! I couldn’t help you!” he exclaimed “the damn kid never told me! ‘Cause if he did, he knew that I’d report his ass to the Feds!”

“Think!” I ordered as my cell phone buzzed, the counter superimposed on the screen having reached thirty minutes “is there anyplace that he knows that could be used for this kind of scheme?" I sucked in a breath, feeling my own composure finally break "please!" I whispered "I am _begging_ you…help me”

He looked up at me suddenly

“There might be a place…”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

I sucked in a deep breath of air as the water finally surged up and over my head, my fingers lost their grip on the grating and I slipped away, sinking into the icy cold water…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

“Yeah, yeah! Here! Here!” Thompson exclaimed as I landed at the old foundry, Kara landing besides me, a tight grip on Thompson’s arm “over there” Thompson pointed towards a smaller building off to the side, it had no windows and only one door

I turned back to Kara

“Watch him and call J’onn,” I ordered “tell him to bring paramedics and combat engineers. We have no idea what else is in there”

“Got it,” she called back as I kicked the door open “be careful” she added as I x-rayed the floor, finding a large majority of it was lined with lead. But unlike when Kara had followed Malverne’s false trail, I could hear water rushing and, more importantly, Alex’s heartbeat.

Hunting around on hands and knees, I localized both sounds and tore up the flooring, finding that there was a short shaft below. The concrete was fairly fresh and what looked like hand holds had been methodically bolted into the sides of the shaft, which was probably how Malverne got Alec’s unconscious form in the cell to began with, he’d simply climbed down and then dropped her through an opening at the bottom.

Dropping down the shaft, I landed atop a metal grating of some sort; the weak, flickering glow of florescent bulbs illuminated the water and showed Alex now floundering beneath.

Tearing the grating off, I thrust my hand in the water, seizing a fistful of Alex’s hair—the only part of her I could actually grab at the moment—and pulled her to the surface. She coughed and spluttered for air as she saw me

“Oh boy am I glad to see you” she panted out as the sharp smell of ozone suddenly pierced the air. Looking back up the shaft I could only throw myself into the water with Alex as the shaft and the building above it suddenly exploded, burying us both under tons of rubble and debris…


	7. Surface Tension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter SEVEN, enjoy :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Deliver me  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Deliver me  
Never let me go  
Never let me go  
Deliver me  
Never let me go

\--Florence + the Machine: “Never Let Me Go”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

The explosion had been shaped, deliberately designed to collapse the shaft above us, and thus deter any attempt at a rescue operation. Holding my breath, I swam to Alex’s side and checked her, no broken bones and her heartbeat seemed fine. Swimming past her, I found the valve and with some effort managed to force it shut, using my heat vision to weld it shut for good measure, for all the good it did, we were both, literally, up past our heads in water.

Swimming back towards Alex, I wrenched the small tank of oxygen free from over my shoulder and affixed the mask to Alex, she lurched and visibly sucked in a breath of air, looking around in confusion before she spotted me, frantically swimming over to me and trying to place the mask over my face and mouth, but I swatted her hands away as the water suddenly sloshed, part of the wall suddenly crumbling and collapsing.

Gripping tightly to Alex, I could only hold onto her as we were suddenly sucked out of the cell along with the water. Coughing for air, I found that we were in what was, in essence, the building’s foundation

“Get them some oxygen!!” J’onn’s voice barked out as a flurry of DEO combat engineers descended on us as I turned my attention to Alex, holding her close as she awkwardly shrugged the breathing mask off, coughing slightly as I cradled her close

“Oh you held on” I breathed, relieved beyond measure as Kara hurried over, dropping to her knees and giving Alex her own examination

“I held on,” Alex panted out tiredly “I held on”…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Alex**

For a second I didn’t know where I was, except that I was warm and dry. Blinking, I opened my eyes to see that I was in the DEO infirmary and that someone—two someones, actually—were holding my hand. Turning my head, I found both Astra and Kara asleep by my bedside, their heads both resting on my arm as their fingers twisted and intertwined with mine

“Hey” my voice sounded scratchy and hoarse, but it woke them up

“Hey,” Kara grinned softly “you’re awake”

“Looks like” I chuckled as she handed me a cup of water with a straw as Astra woke up, smiling softly as she saw me awake, her hand tightening on mine as someone cleared their throat. Turning I frowned at the sight of a man in prison orange standing in the doorway flanked by two agents

“Supergirl, could you give us a moment?” Astra requested softly. Looking a little confused, Kara nodded and quietly slipped out of the room “Alex this is Peter Thompson,” she introduced the man “he’s the father of the man who kidnapped you”

“Rick Malverne” I remembered

“Yes,” Astra nodded “Mr. Thompson actually helped us find you” she explained

“I, uh, I wanted to apologize,” Thompson began hesitantly “for what Ricky did. Damn kid never had a lick of common sense in him. He wanted Supergirl and your girl here to break me out,” he shrugged “guess the kid still see some good in me, I guess. I’m no saint, I’ve done some pretty bad stuff over the years, but the one that haunts me is the one that landed me in that cell. I broke into a house, one I’d cased out days before, figured that nobody was home, turns out the husband had gotten a cold or the flu or something and had stayed home. The guy found me in the kitchen trying to boost the microwave. He grabbed a knife, we fought over it and…I…stabbed him,” he stopped, staring off into space, looking like he still couldn’t believe it “next thing I knew, I was calling 911. I remember…I held his hand until the ambulance came, but…he didn’t make it,” he shook his head “like I said, I ain’t no saint. But what Ricky did to you…” he trailed off and shook his head in clear disbelief

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It took a bit of grumbling on my part, but I finally convinced Dr. Hamilton to let me go home. With Kara and Astra supporting me, I slipped in Command, earning thunderous applause and a hug from Winn and J’onn

“Glad to see that you’re all right” J’onn remarked as he pulled back

“It’s good to be back” I replied

“So, you made it after all”

I turned to see Rick Malverne being led into the room in shackles. I glanced up at J’onn

“What are you going to do with him?” I asked

“My job,” J’onn answered grimly “he knows Supergirl’s and Astra’s real identities, can’t have him blabbing that information to every other criminal lowlife in town”

“You’re going to erase his mind” I realized

“But first,” Astra nodded to where Peter Thompson was being led in by Lucy “a bit of…karmic justice” she remarked as Malverne stared at Thompson

“Dad!” he reached for him, only for Thompson to pull away

“Jesus, Ricky,” he swore “you were going to kill her,” he shook his head “and for what? For some two-bit nothing like me? And here I thought that, that by getting you into collage that you’d grow up to be something better than me, that you’d be somebody, somebody good,” he shook his hands and stepped back towards Lucy “I’d like to go back to my cell now” he requested softly

“Dad!” Malverne called out after him, only for the agents holding him to pull him back

Astra turned to J’onn

“Make sure he remembers that” she growled

“Gladly” J’onn replied grimly…


	8. Heal Over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter, enjoy :=)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And it’s over  
And I’m going under  
But I’m not giving up  
I’m just giving in

I’m slipping underneath  
So cold and so sweet

\--Florence + the Machine: “Never Let Me Go”  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Astra**

Getting Alex home proved to be a surprisingly easy task; she was frighteningly eager to get home

“Do you want something to eat?” I asked

“No, not really” she sighed as she sank down on the couch. I joined her

“How are you feeling?” I asked

“Fine” she dismissed

“Alex…,” I took her hands in mine, holding them close “how are you feeling, really?”

Her hands began to tremble, the tremors rapidly moving up her arms to her shoulders and the rest of her body

“ _I feel…_ ”

“You feel violated,” I probed “insecure, terrified that Malverne is right around the next corner waiting to strike,” she nodded, shaking violently now “let it out” I pleaded against her lips. With a sob she surged forward into my arms, shaking violently, sobbing almost uncontrollably as the fear and terror of her ordeal finally caught up with her.

It wouldn’t be this easy, I knew that from my own experiences, both as a soldier and as a former prisoner. In the days to come, Alex would have to learn to face her fears, give them name and a voice, acknowledge that she had been violated, that she had been, in essence, raped, stripped of her confidence and security.

I knew all this because I’d endured it myself in one form or another over the years, I also knew that, through it all, I would never leave her side.

Ever

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it, the end of Part Nineteen of What we are. Up next, Party Twenty, where Alex learns to deal with her PTSD and M'gann reappears. Keep an eye out :=)
> 
> \--AXEe :=)

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought :=)


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